More and more, I am becoming me.
It took me this long to get here.
Fewer and fewer things in this house. A miniature car, bright orange. No more of
that corporate work that bound me to this desk from 3 AM, sometimes until 10 PM, sometimes, work that made me less than pleasant (but only sometimes, I think, I hope). Only the books I want to read twice or three times in the house, and the ones I buy now are the ones I want, not the ones I feel an obligation to.
The work I do is the work I want to do. Reading
the middle-grade books that carry the grown-up wisdoms. Reading
the memoirs that I will teach. Profiling the people and places that inspire me, like
Elisabeth Agro, say, who has revolutionized crafts in my city. Talking to other writers in real ways about
the real work we hope to do.
I lived decades measuring my life by what I thought of as "real work." I was, I boasted to myself, making the correct sacrifices. I am trying on something new. Living my life as measured by my passions. I don't know how far this will go. But I'd be so mad at me if I didn't try it.
Several Fridays ago I had the extreme pleasure of spending a morning with Elisabeth Agro, the Nancy M. McNeil Associate Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
She inspired, educated, danced. She was alive, passionate, smart. She was breeze on a summer day. I adored her.
And so I wrote about Elisabeth for the
Philadelphia Inquirer in this weekend edition that extends an open welcome to politicians, delegates, media, and conventioneers. Why not take a break from the balloons and debates and slip in among the art? Why not go to a quiet, thoughtful place and ponder the future of us?
A link to the story will go live on Sunday.
Meanwhile, those of you arriving or departing from Terminal D at the Philadelphia International Airport will perhaps notice the LOVE display that was unveiled a few months ago, in anticipation of this week. Based on the essays and photos in my book
Love: A Philadelphia Affair, that mural, too, celebrates the museum as part of a broader celebration of our region.
We hope for peace and intelligent conversation this week. We hope to be a city well received and well remembered.
